The Last Army I'll Ever Do (and other things)

[Calibanite Knight Angel]

Today I wish to talk about theming (don't worry there will be an actual update with painted space marines in the near future). My Minotaurs army is themed around the Orphean War, as is my Krieg Army. I am a big fan of this campaign - and I very much approach my models these days with the perspective of a historical wargamer, keen to recreate that specific campaign. That's why (as I may have mentioned previously) I am going to have my Minotaurs, Krieg, Necromundans, and Ordo Xenos Inquisitors all collected and painted up to be themed around the conflict (I also have plans for a Necron army to act as an OpFor, and to build a large terrain collection themed around all the different warzones).

 

Since my army is themed around the conflict, that makes Sergeant Kraatos right at home leading his Devastator Squad. And Sergeant Thoul leading his Vanguard Veteran Squad. But what if there was a way to modularly make my Orphean War-themed Minotaurs army a Badab War-themed Minotaurs army?

 

Well, firstly, Kraatos wouldn't be around then. And Thoul would be a Sternguard Veteran Squad Sergeant rather than a Vanguard Veteran Squad Sergeant. As such, I fully intend to have an alternate Devastator Sergeant and Vanguard Veteran Sergeant for when my army is representing the Minotaurs during the Badab War. Since I also want to add a Sternguard Veteran Squad to my army regardless, I will have Thoul leading the squad when it is themed around the Badab War, and can swap him out with another Sergeant to suddenly theme the squad around the Orphean War. It's the little details like this that really aren't for anyone else - but rather are for me, as I'm passionate about theming my army around specific campaigns in a way that *feels* true and authentic to me.

 

It is also why I am going to avoid any bodies/army-related debris on the bases. This way, the Minotaurs could be fighting against/alongside any army. This means my Librarian will need to lose the lasgun on his base (easy fix). Fortunately, the Badab War and Orphean War are both big enough, with a diverse enough range of battlefields, that the rock-themed bases of my Imperial forces would fit in fine with the theme - its not like those conflicts were restricted to one environment.

 

Stay tuned for more Minotaurs coming soon.

 

 

Now onto the second thing I wanted to discuss today.

 

 

I'm a really big fan of this book. I love it. I remember being engrossed in the lore when I found it in a second-hand bookshop when I was around 10, and my appreciation of it has only grown since. It has inspired my imagination and desire to collect themed forces these last few years in a way that I don't think any other non-Imperial Armour/Horus Heresy-related book has. And looking at how it sets up a *massive* scale war, then leaves it to the players to resolve? There's actually a lot of similarities there between IA 12: The Fall of Orpheus and this.

 

There is also the appeal of, for many years, this could be considered the end point of 40k chronology. It is the big finale, the 13th Black Crusade could see the doom of the Imperium and the ultimate victory of Chaos. EVERYTHING is at stake. I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of their do-over of this at the end of 7th (to each their own, I know a lot of people love that version, which is cool), so I prefer to go off this and still consider this the end point of 40k chronology for my intents and purposes.

 

Why am I talking about this?

 

Well firstly, for a few years now I have wanted to build a Cadian Imperial Guard force themed around this. It would use the 5th edition codex, but use this book as inspiration and a loose guide of possible directions to take the force in. Now, I still want to put together a Cadian force (using the models they discontinued a couple of years ago, the ones that were around for 20 years), but I want to use those models for Orphean War-themed Necromundans* more (however never say never to be doing those Cadians).

 

But even more than that, I have the desire to revisit my oldest armies, to "finish" them. These were models I painted as a kid. So it is possible I will repaint some models, as I am a much better painter now, but that is all in service of staying faithful to my original vision for them as a kid. But now there is a new vision too. The part of me that loves to theme armies around specific campaigns.

 

The two Space Marine armies I was thinking of "finishing" in the near-ish future are my Dark Angels and Ultramarines (my 40k ones, not my 30k ones).

 

And guess what? According to the third edition lore in Codex: Eye of Terror, the entire Dark Angels chapter was there, and one "Honour Company" (IDK what that means) of Ultramarines was there too. So I have decided to focus on revisiting my Dark Angels, and will work on the Ultramarines later (I am thinking of theming them around Ichar IV).

 

So what will this involve? I will be touching up or outright re-painting some of my old Dark Angels (although am content with them being painted to less high of a standard than I may strive for if it was a new army I was painting), as well as hopefully adding some new models to the army! I'll give a breakdown of what I've got in a later post, but to give a hint, it is led by Azrael (the old metal model), which may just be my favourite 40k model of all! One thing I will have to do, though: some models have accessories (e.g. heads on bases) themed around specific enemies - they will be removed.

 

But this got me real excited - what else can I throw into this project?

 

Well back in 2011 (when their 5th edition Codex came out), I had a brief Grey Knights phase. I only have a couple of squads plus Kaldor Draigo. I don't really have plans to do anything for Draigo right now (hey, maybe he can come into play if I am switching it up to theme them around the Pandorax campaign instead), but I think this is a great chance to finish off those Grey Knights units - with the 13th Black Crusade theme! Seeing them referred to in the order of battle in the Eye of Terror campaign book is what gave me the idea.

 

But wait, there's more! 

 

Remember that Eldar Farseer I posted a few years back? What if that Farseer is part of an Ulthwé Seer Council? Alright, time to get the rest of the council and perhaps a couple of Eldar units to go with it.

 

*Remember those Necromundans I mentioned? Codex: Eye of Terror mentions Necromundans being present. So I will be able to pull them off their Orphean War duties to fulfill their 13th Black Crusade duties as I please.

 

Now let's look at the Chaos side.

 

I have an entire Dark Vengeance box full of Chaos models I never painted. Alright, these guys can be Black Legion - and the cultists could easily be put into a Lost & The Damned army. I'd also like to get the old Abaddon model at some point (the one everyone says loses his arms always), and expand the Black Legion into a small force. I also have the old Iron Warriors Warsmith - if I still have energy for this project, I might get him a squad of Chaos Space Marines or two and a tank to accompany him. I think Iron Warriors would be fun to kitbash with 30k Space Marines. I even have a single Death Guard model - unsure if I would get any more, but maybe that will mean a Plague Marine unit at some point.

 

I'm legitimately really excited to be doing this second themed project on the side of my Orphean War project, and to be giving some of my oldest models a new theme and purpose.

[Calibanite Knight Angel]

Hey everyone, I hope everyone has been having a good couple of days :)

 

I wanted to make one last post for the year, and so I thought it would be a good chance to show everyone some of the old Space Marines I painted when I was younger! But I would say my memory of how well I had painted these models was somewhat rose-tinted. My Minotaurs are very unimpressively painted, and its the kind of thing where, if I was starting the army now, I would be holding myself to a MUCH higher standard. Fortunately I find them acceptable and I'm still legitimately happy with how they worked out - once they have the transfers on them I feel like they come together nicely all the same.

 

I wish to apologise in advance for any poor picture quality.

 

Here is a Tactical Squad, painted back in early 2014 (I would have been 14 at the time):

 

As you may be able to tell, the Sergeant has the black helmet stripe of a Sergeant. Here is a closer look at him and one of his men. I would spend ages studying the artwork of the Minotaurs featured in the Imperial Armour books, which is why we see a stripe on the chainsword. I believe the rocks on the bases of all my miniatures that have them were bird seed - I might have to look into getting some of that, so that I can base the models I'll be painting in the present day in a consistent way. 

 

The transfers are from the old (now discontinued unfortunately) Minotaurs transfer sheet from Forge World. I also have the Minotaurs etched brass sheet sheet, which we might see at some point in the future. I remember choosing the Plasma Gun for the first squad because I thought "I'm depicting them fighting Necrons, and this is a chapter that frequently fights other Space Marines. So that makes sense in the same way as it makes sense for the Dark Angels to be using all this Plasma weaponry".

 

You know what? I love these models and am proud of them. The more time I spend with them, the easier it is to let go of my modern standards for myself and criticism of my own work (even on the best paint jobs I have ever done, I have immediately been critical of them) and accept that, yeah, these are actually Space Marines I'm happy with. And they are going to stay as they are. Shout out to my Minotaurs army. Something you may notice is that there are a lot of Space Marines that can be described as "Mark VII Space Marine with Bolter firing, or getting ready to fire". That was by design - I wanted to have large numbers of what I would consider "default" Space Marines, and have them in poses that can easily look like they are in the midst of battle. However, as we can see below, the Astartes with the Mark VI Armour pieces has drawn his knife - I imagine he finds himself in a situation where he is engaged in melee, and the enemy isn't giving him enough space to be able to aim his Bolter at them. 

 

Now we get to the last two members of the first Tactical Squad. I know what you are thinking: "I've never seen a Tactical Squad with a MISSILE LAUNCHER before!"

 

All jokes aside, we will see a few more missile launchers in this army, but other Tactical Squads have other heavy weapons too. I like to mix it up. But the Missile Launcher is always a solid choice for Tactical Squads.

 

Here are two yet-to-be-finished Minotaurs Sergeants from other Tactical Squads. They also have the black stripe, but note that they have Red shoulder pads (veteran marking). The Forge World books actually depict a mix of (non-1st Company) Sergeants with the standard bronze, and with the Veteran red. So in my army, there will be a mix of both for Sergeants. When it comes to playing the game (keeping in mind I would be using primarily 5th/6th/7th edition Codexes (Codices?), the ones with bronze shoulder pads count as regular Space Marine Sergeants, while the red shoulder pads gives them the "Veteran Sergeant" upgrade.

 

I'm excited to use the Bronze chapter symbol (the one that goes on red Veteran shoulder pads), as outside the officers and the 1st Company squads in my army, these Veteran Sergeants are my chance to use them.

 

Here we have Ivanus Enkomi, Reclusiarch of the Minotaurs, and Lord Asterion Moloc, Chapter Master of the Minotaurs.

 

I absolutely love these models - I would have painted them in 2014 too, or early 2015 at the latest? I was pleased with how they turned out back then, and I'm pleased with it now - something I always found was that I had an easier time painting a lot of Forge World models than I did with plastic models. I guess the FW models were designed in a way that (to me) really guided when I was painting them. These have always been two of my favourite 40k models.

 

 

I always loved running Moloc - he would be accompanied by a squad of 5 Assault Terminators (they were missing their storm shields, as I was waiting to get a 3rd party set - which I ultimately did end up getting a few years ago, so will have to finish them off sometime!). I think he may have given the whole army "Preferred Enemy: Codex Space Marines, Dark Angels, Blood Angels, Space Wolves, and Grey Knights" from memory.

 

However, most of the time (unless it was a bigger game), I would run Enkomi as my warlord - he always looked so cool leading a Tactical Squad into action! Plus, his Power Fist allowed him to fight tanks!

 

 

 

Now that I have shown everyone some Minotaurs, I'd like to talk about my Dark Angels. Now unfortunately, a lot of the ones I painted years ago just don't hold up to my current standards - and its not a case of it being like the Minotaurs, where these days I would paint the army differently if I was starting it now, but am perfectly happy with where they are at regardless. No, some of the Dark Angels are just not at a level I am happy with - so I may be repainting them in the future. But this remains to be seen.

 

But on the other hand, there are some Dark Angels that I am perfectly happy with, and will not be changing in any way, shape or form. And I'm about to show you some of them :)

 

I would also like to note that, whereas my Minotaurs and Krieg Guardsmen have brown around the edges of their bases, my Dark Angels have black. When I did my Dark Angels, I thought black around the bases was the coolest thing ever - by the time I moved onto the Minotaurs, I had reconsidered (thus the brown). But I think this is great for theming. My Minotaurs, Krieg, and any other Orphean War-themed forces will have brown around the edge of their base, whilst any 13th Black Crusade-themed forces (my Dark Angels, Grey Knights, etc) will have black around the edge of their bases!

 

 

First, lets talk about Asmodai. I absolutely loved the 6th edition model when it came out, and knew I had to get it! I don't even think I used him in games much - it was just from the perspective of I liked the character and the model and the theme. Which to me, is the main reason I do anything with my 40k armies. I believe I painted him back in 2013, the same year the model came out.

 

(You can't see from the angle and shadow of the picture, but I did actually paint his helmet's eye lenses!)

 

Next, we have Azrael (plus his Watcher in the Dark companion).

 

I believe I painted him in either 2013 or 2014. A fun fact about this model is that he is older than I am - I believe he is from 1996. One of my friends had fun pointing that out when I first got him! But what amazed me - I thought he looked so cool, you couldn't even tell! the only giveaway to me was the bright colour paints used on his weapons in the official photos indicated the era the model originated from.

 

To me, this model has aged real well. I was actually waiting for him to get a Finecast re-release, as I figured he would be less heavy than if it was the metal model (I was real concerned about his back banner tipping him over). But ultimately I got the metal model, and didn't regret it (I'm not sure if he even ever got a Finecast release, or was just metal up until he got replaced by the Primaris model?).

 

As soon as I got this model and painted it, I knew he was one of my favourite 40k characters. And you know what? That still holds true to this day.

 

I know there is much discourse around the lore of The Lion Helm, people wondering "How could a helmet big enough for a Primarch fit on Azrael's smaller Astartes-size head?" This isn't something I'm terribly invested in emotionally and am fine with whatever the answer is, but it is fun to think about! I think, for me, it falls into one of two options:

-Either it WAS a helmet the Lion once wore, but has been modified to fit a Space Marine properly. Maybe even the entire outer shell is different, and its just some of the internal systems that have been removed from the original and fitted into a newer, Artificier-wrought helmet.

-Or it was not actually worn by the Lion, and the Dark Angels just think it was. I actually think this would be quite fun.

But I think any answer is fine! Or even better, no answer - just let it be a fun little thing the fans think about! And of course, I imagine the original intent back in the mid 90s was that this probably WAS in fact the Lion's actual helmet, and that it is just a matter of Primarch's becoming bigger than they were originally intended to be over the decades as the lore changes and expands.

 

Now I wish to briefly go on a tangent. Azrael sometimes is depicted as having hair, sometimes as bald. Similarly, I believe Sigismund is depicted as having hair in the early Horus Heresy novels, but by the time the (bald) model came out, he didn't. Now this is fine, Space Marines, like real people, are presumably capable of growing hair and having it cut. But it did get me thinking - with all the hormones and whatever else that Space Marines have different to regular people like you or me, do Space Marines grow hair faster or slower than regular humans? Or is it unaffected? As you can tell, I am focus on the REAL questions here.

 

It won't be a matter for my Minotaurs regardless, as I aim for them ALL to be helmeted (to dehumanise them and make them seem less heroic than helmetless Space Marines).

 

Something I found, which I had forgotten about, was my old Carcharodons. Since their Tactical Squads could replace their bolters with bolt pistols/chainswords, I actually got an Assault Squad kit - assembled them without jump packs, and gave them a Melta Gun to make clear this was a Tactical Squad.

 

I would have worked on these guys around 2015. I had plans of getting an Assault Terminator Squad (to be Tyberos' unit he could make troops) and a Land Raider Crusader next. I did actually buy them, but they ended up getting repurposed to my Minotaurs! I had plans for it to be a VERY small force - 2x 10 man Tactical Squads (with bolt pistols/chainswords instead of bolters), 1x 5 man Assault Terminator Squad accompanying Tyberos, 1x Land Raider Crusader, 2x Drop Pods, 1x Dreadnought, 1x Land Speeder.

 

I don't have plans to get the rest of the force anymore though, but never say never!

 

But I would like to eventually finish this squad and expand it to 10 men - and maybe mix in a couple of guys in older models of Power Armour - I am thinking two in Mark V, and one in Mark III. I could theoretically just use Tactical Squad models - I would have enough spare bolt pistols + chainswords to equip four more Space Marines, and then give the last squad member a heavy weapon.

 

Here are the two I had painted (from 2015 I think! Or maybe sometime in later 2014. Either way, it was before the 2015 Space Marine Assault Squad kit came out!)- I just need to clean up some of the Polynesian-influenced markings and I few other details I painted on there, but other than that am happy. If anyone knows anybody selling Carcharodons transfers, please drop me a message - I would be eager to finish off this unit properly!

 

And here are the three unpainted models - maybe I can  finish them once I remember what greys (and other dull colours) I was using!:

 

 

WHAT IS NEXT???

(^I wrote it in capitals because I am not sure how to change font size so I have headings haha)

 

Over the coming weeks, I aim to be painting a good number of Minotaurs, then sometime in the future finishing them off with the transfers, varnish and basing. I was planning to do a couple of squads after Christmas, but am having to dial back on that a bit to make time for some things I need to do to take care of my health. So I hope to do something, but can't guarantee it will be much.

 

I do have a stack of razorback/rhino boxes - I have four copies of this kit, and aim to build and paint these so I have 2x Razorbacks and 2x Rhinos, to be able to recreate some text from Imperial Armour vol. 2 (Second Edition) where an Inquisitor observed a Minotaurs mechanised charge during the Orphean War!

 

Unsure if these will be done straight away, but I am thinking I may like to at the very least assemble them back-to-back (when I paint them is a different question).

 

I would also like to take some time to discuss my Dark Angels ideas.

 

Before I saw the quality of painting on a good number of my Dark Angels today, I had big exciting ideas! But seeing them has killed my enthusiasm a little -so we will just wait and see how I feel about them.

 

But I had the thought: Get more Company Masters*, so I could run them and Azrael as the old Apocalypse "Masters of the Chapter" formation. With the theme of the 13th Black Crusade, I'm imagining my Dark Angels preparing for the final battle against the archenemy that may determine the fate of the Imperium itself, throwing everything they have at the traitors/forces of Chaos. This would see the Dark Angels having the vibe they had in 30k, as completely dangerous, and preparing for the Dreadwing-esque absolute destruction of the enemy using EVERYTHING they have in their arsenal. Into the heart of this final battle would teleport Azrael, four of his Company Masters gathered together, a command squad with either the Chapter Standard or one of the Sacred Standards being carried by Brother Bethor, and dozens of Deathwing Terminators and even Venerable Dreadnoughts accompanying them. 

 

*There once was a model I kitbashed with leftover parts - originally intended to use him as a Fallen Angel, but may replace his head to a fancier one, and give him a back banner. Then he can be a Company Master of a different company (other than the 5th, which my Dark Angels, like most people's, tend to be from), complete with appropriate company symbol.

 

I would like to get Ezekiel too - and once he is back in stock on the GW website, plan to pounce on making that purchase. I already have the Dark Vengeance librarian, but was thinking: Maybe another one too? If I could get one of those old Terminator Librarian models, for example, that would be pretty cool. I have Asmodai and the Dark Vengeance Interrogator Chaplain too - but maybe the 2015 plastic Interrogator Chaplain could be added too. All of this represents the leaders of the Chapter deploying together for this final battle.

 

And of course I would like to eventually add Sammael and Belial too - along with more Deathwing and Ravenwing units.

 

I realised: I want to theme this army around Apocalypse. Not in the same way as my Minotaurs are a huge army that, by the time it is done ,could only be fielded fully in Apocalypse. But rather, the Dark Angels have all the formations and over representation of heroes and powerful units that you see in Apocalypse.

 

I also had plans to expand the "greenwing" part of the army - add a Dreadnought, give them a Rhino, maybe add another Tactical Squad and another Predator, get a Techmarine.

 

EDIT: I also really like Damocles Command Rhinos. I just think they are cool. I was thinking of getting one for my Minotaurs, my friend suggested Dark Angels, so right now I am thinking maybe even they both get one each. But that's not yet determined.

 

I have thought about kitbashing together some Fallen Angels - then can go with the idea of, in the Imperium's darkest hour when they are needed the most, will the Dark Angels once again sacrifice all to go against the Fallen? The Fallen might even be in the same warzone - but what if the Dark Angels are deep in the most intense battle imaginable, and THEN they receive a report of a Fallen Angel elsewhere on the same planet - but not an imminent threat, unlike the forces the Dark Angels are battling at that instant. What shall they do then? This is an idea I would like to add into my 13th Black Crusade theme.

 

Its all up in the air about whether I will do ANY of that, but that is definitely a possibility of my Dark Angels.

 

 

Before I end this post, I would like to thank everyone who reads, everyone who comments, everyone who reacts - it all means so much. I genuinely think The Bolter & Chainsword is one of the best online communities. I wish to contribute in a positive way to that, and I want to thank you all for creating this environment where I feel this way. So thank you everyone. And I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! :)

Edited December 20, 2025 by Calibanite Knight Angel
Wanted to add comment about Damocles Command Rhinos

[Tallarn Commander]

Thank you for the walk down memory lane. Yes, you should definitely be proud of your younger self. I look forward to the various iterations of Codex Eye of Terror- and Orphean Wars-inspired models.

[Firedrake Cordova]

Always nice to see uncommon chapters like the Minotaurs. I think they look pretty reasonable.  Like you say, the Dark Angels aren't quite as nice as the Minotaurs, but if you go back and strip your older models every time you get better, then you won't finish may armies.  

 

There's some classic sculpts in there - I remember when Azrael/Asmoda/Ezekiel came out (they're all classic Jes Goodwin sculpts)

 

I would add that there's a third option with the Lion Helm - primarchs actually weren't any larger than regular space marines, and their size has been exaggerated through the myth of the ages to reflect their heroic deeds (otherwise known as the unreliable narrator).  

[Calibanite Knight Angel]

Happy new year everyone! I hope everyone reading this has had a nice Christmas/Holiday Season/start to 2026 :)

 

I am back to share the direction I intend to take now in the new year.

 

So I'm not sure if you guys could tell, but I was feeling rather... flat when I reviewed the quality of painting on my Dark Angels I completed when I was much younger. As such I've decided to put my 13th Black Crusade project on the back burner. I'm not abandoning it, but I think I will focus my energy elsewhere for now, gather my thoughts, and come back to it later. After all, I own a good number of Dark Angels already, I'll always have those available to me (regardless of anything else getting discontinued).

 

So that left me with the Minotaurs/Orphean War still as my main project, but looking for another side project. No lie, I have always been big on the Badab War (as you most likely can tell by now), so my first instinct was "complete multiple Badab War armies". And yes I would like to do this eventually, but it is a very full on project. The below is a list of the Badab War armies I would collect (most of which would just be small forces). It's insanely huge, and that right there is why I'm not focusing on it right now.

-Minotaurs (my main army I'm already collecting for Orpheus so doesn't really count)

-Astral Claws/Tyrant's Legion (I already have Huron, Valthex, a converted Sumatris, and a squad of 5 Terminators awaiting paint. So this would be one of the first I would do)

-Carcharodons (see above post)

-Red Scorpions (I have Carab Culln in Terminator Armour. I'm actually quite fond of these guys)

-Executioners

-Star Phantoms

-Lamenters

-Marines Errant

-Salamanders

 

That's why too much. I feel tired just writing all that! So no Badab War for now.

 

And so I thought to myself "What do I want to paint? What can I paint as a new army, where I can just enjoy myself and paint models I have always wanted to paint to the quality that I am capable of painting to in the modern times?"

 

Necrons, painted very basically entirely with Leadbelcher (and without highlights or any other painting techniques other than applying a single colour) seems perfect for my skill level!

 

But I'm already planning to get Necrons for my Orphean War project, so that rules those out.

 

So instead, I decided on the RED Space Marines.

 

One of my friends is into playing 3rd Edition, and he and I are planning to have games together in the future. I have to say, I am really fond of the 3rd Edition books (demonstrated above with my love for the Eye of Terror Codex), so I thought to myself: Yeah, I will build a Blood Angels army around the 3rd edition rules. And not just 3rd edition rules, but 3rd edition lore too!

 

I actually had the Shield of Baal: Deathstorm box from 2014. The one which includes Tyranids and Blood Angels (Captain Karlaen of the 1st Company, a Terminator Squad, a Death Company Squad, and a Death Company Dreadnought. I still have those models, but they are separate from this project).

 

So I have decided on a theme for my army: The Blood Angels 3rd Company, during the Third War for Armageddon! I'm EXTREMELY excited to be doing this army, and similar to me theming armies around the Orphean War, Badab War, 13th Black Crusade, etc, my historical wargamer side takes over and I thrive off being able to theme it around a really cool campaign from the lore. 

 

(Slight tangent, but the 3rd Edition Armageddon and Eye of Terror Codices really do feel like a precursor to the big Imperial Armour volumes and I realised how similar the open ended endings of the campaign books feel to, say IA 12: The Fall of Orpheus. This kind of stuff is definitely the corner of the 40k universe I most enjoy! I also think its interesting that this kind of book from mainstream GW made a comeback in 7th Edition. For example the aforementioned Shield of Baal.)

 

The army will (atleast initially) be themed around a force from 3rd Company, led by a Chaplain, following Captain Tycho's succumbing to the Black Rage and subsequent death at Hive Tempestora. This creates an interesting narrative hook for me: this company of Space Marines, finding themselves in one of the biggest ground wars there is, is suddenly without their leader. Leadership now falls to the other officers present. You have Sergeants of course, you have Chaplains (including Lemartes, according to Chapter Approved 2001).  Maybe you have Librarians too. So I have a strong vision of what the force will be: Battle Company Units, Death Company, Chaplains, and supporting vehicles.

 

The books I am using for rules/army list and lore are Codex Space Marines, Codex Blood Angels, Codex Armageddon, Chapter Approved 2001 (all of these are 3rd Edition).

 

Here is my first model for the army: My converted Chaplain!

 

I still need to use some green stuff to finish this model off, but I am really happy with him so far! He is made from the Blood Angels Chaplain with jump pack (the one that came out around a decade ago alongside the Angel's Blade supplement), which I bought today. I made the following modifications:

-Removed his jump pack and replaced it with a standard Space Marine power pack (I sourced it from the Assault Squad box which I bought off EBay for the completion of my Minotaurs Vanguard Veterans, as they will all be using Jump Packs anyway. Yes, this is a hint at something else I am working on).

-Modified his foot so he wasn't leaping off a rock (it makes less sense with no jump pack). I ended up cutting up and using the debris from Assault Squad kit (as my Vanguard Veterans will be directly on the bases, not on debris) to make his raised leg make... *some* sense.

-Moved his left pauldron onto his right shoulder. This is the one with the Chaplain symbol, and it seems to usually be depicted as being on a Chaplain's right shoulder. This required me to file down an exhaust vent on the power pack in order to make it fit.

-Re-angled the arm holding the pistol so it is less far back - it makes more sense if the Chaplain is leaping in mid air with a jump pack. I also re-angled the hand holding the pistol. And the Inferno Pistol was swapped for a Bolt Pistol from the Mark IV Space Marine box. I didn't use the other pauldron he came with (the Death Company one), instead giving him one from the Mark IV Space Marine box (which will have the Chapter symbol).

-I re-angled his head slightly. Whereas before I imagined he was leaping to attack an enemy, I now imagine him shouting something to his men before he leaps to attack an enemy (yes big difference haha).

 

I'm really pleased with him! He will be accompanied by his Death Company friends, all of whom will be on foot rather than have jump packs (but get a free Rhino thrown in). I'm a really big fan of the rules causing your Death Company to be a random size, with you rolling the dice to see how many Space Marines in your squads succumb to the Black Rage before the battle! Of course, having the Chaplain means I already get a few by default. But I was wondering - what happens if my Blood Angels are having a particularly bad day, and the Chaplain's Death Company unit exceeds 10 men and can't fit in the Rhino? Does this mean I have to lose the Rhino? Or do I cap the number of Death Company at 9, and any more who succumb are removed (the same as when you don't have any more Death Company models), and are considered to have been given the Emperor's Mercy? I would be interested to know what people think!

 

For fun, here is what the Google AI when I searched about it said:

 

Yeah that didn't really say anything. I guess we can assume that the Google AI hasn't been trained on 3rd Edition 40k rules yet! 

 

I was thinking about whether to use the modern 32mm bases that Space Marines come with, or the classic 25mm (I think that was their dimensions?) bases. My friend thought 32mm looks better, so I decided to go with that (These will never be a tournament army, and I don't care about what base sizes people have their models on - just so long as it looks cool and you are happy with your models, that's what matters to me!). Something that will be a nice change is that the army will include some helmetless Space Marines! One of my rules for myself is that helmetless Marines are reserved for more "heroic" chapters (or ones that can present as such), while armies I paint from less pleasant Chapters such as the Minotaurs or Carcharodons are all helmeted - to make them feel less heroic and less humanised! But with the Blood Angels being who they are, there will definitely be some bare-headed Astartes in there! That being said, any Death Company (with the exception of Tycho if I get a model of him) will be helmeted - these guys aren't giving off that big "hero" vibe as much anymore!

 

I'm planning the force to include the Chaplain + Death Company + Rhino, some Tactical Squads, Assault Squads, Furioso Dreadnought and a Baal Predator. Not meant to be a competitive list, just a fun project to work on! And at some point may get Lemartes and Tycho (in Death Company colours) too, if I can get a hold of their models! I was also thinking: This will be a great chance to revisit my Assault on Black Reach Orks, and re-organise them according to 3rd Edition Rules! They can be themed around the Third War for Armageddon too, and be an OpFor for my Blood Angels!

 

I do have a question for the Blood Angels experts out there before I go: I aim to include the squad number markings for any Tactical/Assault/Devastator Squads in the army. The 3rd Edition Codex does a good job of showing the markings for each squad (Squad 1-10). But it doesn't explain what squad type each number relates to in a Battle Company. Would Squads #1-6 be Tactical Squads, #7-8 be Assault Squads, #9-10 be Devastator Squads, or are the squads numbered differently?

 

Thanks in advance! I also appreciate the replies I get - thanks guys, you all are great and I enjoy being part of this community!

 

(And don't worry, more Minotaurs coming soon, I have gotten some more painting done in the background :) )

Edited January 2 by Calibanite Knight Angel

[Tallarn Commander]

Back in 3rd it was always fun watching the Blood Angels player roll for the black rage. I was rooting for them even though the more Space Marines who succumbed meant a harder time for me! 

 

I look forward to watching your Blood Angels develop. Yep, a typical 3rd edition 3rd Company of whatever Space Marines chapter would indeed dedicate Squads 1 to 6 to a tactical role, 7 and 8 to an assault role, and 9 and 10 to a devastator role. But there are a lot of reasons to change that: the captain might want to confuse the enemy, the chapter might do their own thing, and I think some Space Marine chapters might have just worn their company number way back in the 1990s (?). 

 

Red is a blast to paint. Over the years I have painted 3 red armies (the Blood Wolves, a Khornate CSM warband; the Dooooomfevers, a Nurgle CSM warband,; and Count Tito's Doooomguard, a Vampire Counts army for Fantasy). You will enjoy it!